Entrepreneurs have plenty of reasons to smile after business success

SOUTHPORT-based e-tailer Hismile is seeking to expand its share of the international teeth whitening product market.

Nik Mirkovic, 21, and Alex Tomic, 22, are the Gold Coast founders of e-tailor Hismile, which has gone from a small start up to a multi-million dollar business. Picture: Scott Fletcher

SOUTHPORT-based e-tailer Hismile is looking to go on a massive recruiting drive as it aggressively seeks to expand its share of the international teeth whitening product market.

Gold Coast entrepreneurs Nik Mirkovic and Alex Tomic founded the company in 2014 and say they have racked up a turnover of $10 million in 18 months.

According to the long-time friends, a large part of their success is down to their marketing strategy, which revolves solely around using social media platforms such as Snapchat and Instagram users to promote their products.

Their target market is young females aged 15 to 24, who want to emulate the picture-perfect smiles of the “insta-famous” such as Gemma Lee Farrell (1m followers) and Shania Perrett (449k followers).

“We started by getting people on Instagram to test the product to see if they liked it,” Mr Tomic said. “That’s how we’ve marketed the product. It is about the lifestyle around the brand.”

Mr Tomic said a key part of the pitch is the products work in 10 minutes to whiten teeth while they said competitive products take “twice as long’.

The Gold Coast founders of e-tailor Hismile Nik Mirkovic and Alex Tomic are looking to expand into international markets. Picture: Scott Fletcher

“We tried to simplify the product and make it as convenient as possible,” he said.

“We use a six-application course to get the maximum results rather than doing it all in the one process.”

Products vary in price from $39.99 for a three-pack of teeth whitening gels to $59.99 for the LED light and mouth tray, which uses a light to bleach teeth.

The cost of the company’s products compares with Colgate selling a 130g container of gel for $6.45 at supermarkets.

However Mr Tomic said the products compared well in terms of price to similar ones sold online.

Hismile has 18 staff based in Southport but is looking to hire 50 to 100 over the next 12 months.

It manufactures its products in Hong Kong, China and Belgium.

Mr Tomic said it plans to increase turnover to $40 million in 18 months by selling its products into the US, UK, Canada and Europe.

He said they will use the same social media strategy in overseas markets and raise consumer awareness.

“We’re focusing on building the infrastructure we need and the fundamentals of our business to grow it in the future.”